Unblurring History: 10 Best Defensive Shortstops in MLB History

The Shortstop position is the important defensive position on the field, other than the Pitcher's and Catcher. That makes this an important defensive list.

It amazes me how much "respected" historians differ on defensive ratings. We all know that "offensively" speaking, historians are pretty much on the same page. We can't say the same about defense.

Another thing that I like about rating defense: Historians don't care about Length of Career like they do offensively. It's the way it should be offensively, too. But it doesn't work out that way.

Note: Next to each player I will assign a letter grade to each player offensively, the way I see it. We can assume they are all an "A +" defensively, since they're in the top 10 all time defensively for a Shortstop.

Here I go. Unblurring history. The way it really is.

10. Art Fletcher (1910s) offensive rating: B +

Fletcher was certainly the best defensive Shortstop from the last decade of the dead ball era. But there were others that were great, too. Notably, Mickey Doolan, Roger Peckinpaugh and Terry Turner.

But Fletcher takes the cake and there were almost no flaws in his game defensively. He was also a heck of an offensive player for a Shortstop.

11-20 here are 10 more Shortstop's that gave Fletcher a run for his money for the No. 10 spot.

I will list them from oldest to newest: Bill Dahlen (1900s), Roger Peckinpaugh (1910s), Terry Turner (1910s), Rabbit Maranville (1920s), Everett Scott (1920s), Marty Marion (1940s), Phil Rizzuto (1940s), Dave Concepcion (1970s), Neifi Perez (2000s) and Jack Wilson (2000s)

9. Dal Maxvill (1960s) offensive rating: F

Maxvill was the best defensive Shortstop from the 1960s. But there were other great one's, like Ron Hansen. Unfortunately, Maxvill was a defensive expert, but he was a failure offensively, even for a Shortstop.

8. Honus Wagner (1900s) offensive rating: A +

What can I say about Wagner that hasn't already been said. Arguably, other than Alex Rodriguez, he's the best offensive Shortstop in the history of MLB. And some either forget (or never knew) that he was arguably one of the 10 best defensive Shortstop's in the history of MLB.

7. Mike Benjamin (1990s) offensive rating: D

A defensive expert that was the best defensive Shortstop from the 1990s. There were other great defensive Shortstop's from the 1990s, like Tony Fernandez and Rey Sanchez, but Benjamin gets the nod, defensively. Benjamin wasn't a failure offensively, but he was certainly below average, unfortunately.

6. Mark Belanger (1970s) offensive rating: D +

The best defensive Shortstop from the 1970s, with arguments from Dave Concepcion. Some players are better than they look. But Belanger looked great...and he was. Pretty much got the job done offensively, but he was slightly below average.

5. Joe Tinker (1900s) offensive rating: B

Tinker was the best defensive Shortstop from the first 50 seasons of MLB.

There were plenty of other greats during that time, like Herman Long, Bill Dahlen, Hughie Jennings, Honus Wagner, Art Fletcher, Mickey Doolan, Roger Peckinpaugh, Terry Turner, Dave Bancroft, Rabbit Maranville and Everett Scott. But Tinker outdid all of them. Tinker was also a good solid offensive player for a Shortstop.

4. Rick Burleson (1980s) offensive rating: B -

One of the best decision makers in the history of MLB for a Shortstop. Of course, I have no statistical evidence of this, it just seems like he always made the right decision, mentally. A truly great defensive Shortstop. He got the job done offensively, too. He was slightly above average, offensively.

3. Billy Rogell (1930s) offensive rating: B +

He was an incredible defensive Shortstop and a heck of an offensive player for a Shortstop. Don't know what else to say about Rogell, he's not talked about enough for his overall play.

2. Ozzie Smith (1980s) offensive rating: B +

This is the guy that almost "every" historian has in the top three. And he's usually first. What you saw is what you got. He looked brilliant, and he was as good as he looked. They didn't call him the "Wizard" because he could click his heels and return to Kansas.

They called him the Wizard because of his defense. Smith was also a heck of an offensive player. Many are (and were) hard on him offensively. Many forget what a brilliant base runner he was. And because of his brilliant base running, he's a B + offensively.

1. Lou Boudreau (1940s) offensive rating: A

He's in the HOF where he belongs, but at the same time, he seems to have fallen into oblivion with the common fan. 

It surprises some, but almost every "respected" historian that you run across that has the guts to assign defensive letter grades will call Boudreau an "A +" defensively. If you run across a pessimistic one, they might just call him an "A". But somehow he's in the HOF and no one seems to bring up his defense.

He was an interesting phenomenon on defense, because he seemed to be slow of foot. But somehow he would get to balls that others couldn't get to. His arm appeared to be average, but he always seemed to throw fast base runners out on close plays.

My point is, he looked fairly good, but he was much better than he looked, how about the best ever defensive Shortstop.

He was also an amazing offensive player for a Shortstop.

So, he's seemingly fallen into oblivion with the common fan. But he's in the HOF where he belongs because he was an "A +" defensively and an "A" offensively.

There you go. History unblurred. The way it really was.